Why West must ignore Putin's nuclear threats and rely on Cold War logic to keep us safe

Once again, Vladimir Putin has sought to use the spectre of nuclear war to dissuade other countries from helping Ukraine resist his illegal and immoral invasion.

This latest bout of sabre-rattling came after out-going US President Joe Biden gave Kyiv permission to use American-supplied missiles to hit targets inside Russian territory. Clearly, this was an escalation.

However, given many attacks on Ukraine originate from Russia and Ukrainian troops have crossed the border into the Kursk region, it was bizarre that the US maintained the restriction for so long. The UK and other countries should now ignore Putin’s threats, follow Biden’s lead and drop similar restrictions.

Blood-soaked dictator

Indeed, Putin’s decision to alter Russia’s military ‘doctrine’ – so that an attack on Russia by a non-nuclear power with the "participation or support of a nuclear power" will be seen as a "joint attack” that could trigger a nuclear response – should actually make this happen more quickly.

If there is one mistake the world’s democracies absolutely must not make, it is to teach this blood-soaked dictator that he can make military advances on the ground, while holding off sufficient retaliation by making nuclear threats.

That said, dismissing those threats risks making him look dangerously weak within Russia, to the point where he may believe he has little option but to use a nuclear weapon. Despite this, we have no choice but to rely on the terrifying logic of nuclear deterrence – “mutually assured destruction”, or MAD – to keep us safe, as it did during the Cold War.

Vladimir Putin cannot be allowed to use threats of nuclear war to make military advances on the ground in Ukraine (Picture: Galerie Bilderwelt) | Getty Images

Nuclear Armageddon

It would be far more dangerous to give in to his threats because if Putin senses weakness, he will try to exploit it and, eventually, would overstep the mark, for example by invading Nato territory. This, in our judgment, is the more likely cause of a Third World War.

Putin may be deranged enough to press the button, but not all of those around him will be. The vast majority of Russians are just as scared of nuclear Armageddon as we are.

The world is now in a New Cold War, and the West must be as resolute as it once was in defence of freedom and democracy.